NiMH Battery Recommendations

[Antsl]

Hi all,

My hunch is a few of you are using NiMH AA and AAA batteries and chargers... I am looking to buy a set (probably about 20 batteries in all) however I want to buy once and buy right.

I'm looking at three different brands ... Eveready, Duracell and Sony. It is performace that I am interested in (I am just reluctant to buy cheap batteries that are unreliable). There are also different chargers ... example is Duracell who have one unit that will charge a battery in six hours and another that will charge in half an hour!

If anyone has experience with these different brands and models I would be interested to hear from you.

Cheers, Antsl



Eat, Breath, Sleep and Travel Light!

[Killakoala]

Independent tests at Australian Consumer Association has shown that Everready NiMhs are the best at holding a charge.

http://www.choice.com.au

Of the tested batteries, here are the BEST results in order of preference.

ENERGIZER Rechargeable 2300 $5.50
DIGITOR Rechargeable 2000 $5.00
KODAK MAX Rechargeable Digital Camera 2100 $7.00
FUJIFILM Rechargeable 2100 $5.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit hard to read but here are the test results.
Performance
Brand / model (in rank order) Overall score (%)1 Value for
money score(%) 2 Consistency score (%) 3 Environment score (%)4 Type Price per battery ($)*
ENERGIZER Rechargeable 2300 86 91 67 90 NiMH 5.49
DIGITOR Rechargeable 2000 84 83 91 80 NiMH 5.00
KODAK Max Rechargeable Digital Camera 2100 (A) 82 82 84 80 NiMH 6.98
FUJIFILM Rechargeable 2100 81 82 78 80 NiMH 4.98
SANYO Advanced 2300 (B) 73 86 28 80 NiMH 5.00
MAHA POWEREX 2200 (C) 67 63 70 70 NiMH 4.99
JACKSON Rechargeable 2000 59 51 58 70 NiMH 6.48
POWERBASE 2300 (D) 57 59 32 70 NiMH 7.49
DURACELL Ultra M3 Technology 21 2 100 0 Alkaline 2.09
ENERGIZER e2 Lithium 21 2 100 0 Lithium 4.99
KODAK Max Digital Camera (E) 21 1 100 0 Oxy alkaline 3.25
PANASONIC Primary Nickel for Digital Camera (F) 21 2 100 0 Primary nickel 1.67
Table notes

* Recommended retail price according to manufacturer info in October 2004.
(A) Has been upgraded to 2300 mAh, but 2100 mAH stock may still be available.
(B) Will soon be replaced by a 2500 mAh model.
(C) Available over the internet: http://www.nznature.co.nz/mshop/spi//2_sol_1757.
(D) Has been upgraded to 2500 mAh, but 2300 mAH stock may still be available.
(E) Will soon be upgraded.
(F) Has been replaced by "Oxyride" model, but may still be available.

1 Overall score
This consists of the following:

* Value for money score: 50%
* Consistency score: 25%
* Environment score: 25%

2 Value for money score
We continuously drained and recharged four samples of each battery 250 times in a scenario simulating continuous use in a digital camera. We then calculated the average running time you get per dollar of their purchase price and converted that to a percentage score.

* For the NiMH models, the score is based on the price for four batteries plus a quick-charger, and a life of 250 cycles.
* For the non-rechargeable models included in the test for comparative purposes, the score is based on four batteries.

3 Consistency score
We scored the drop in the time the batteries lasted between the first and 250th cycles. A large drop means the model is less likely to last for as many cycles as a model that keeps its capacity. And the bigger the drop, the more likely it is you’ll become frustrated by its changing performance.

4 Environment score
Based on the number of alkaline batteries the rechargeable prevents from going to landfill.

[Antsl]

Thanks for that Steve,

Has made the decision a little easier to make. I had a look at the Eveready charger though and I did not think that much of it. I am thinking of buying the Sony LCD charger (supplied with four 2300mAh batteries and Eveready 2300mAh batteries for the remainder of them.

The Sony has the advantage of voltage and temperature monitoring along with a timer. If anyone is using it and has comments I would be interested to hear!

Antsl

[Dug]

I have been using premier and power-base for a while now I think the trick is just to use them constantly the more power cycles you put through them the better they become.

have a look at

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

it makes for interesting reading.

the usual complaint about rechargeable batteries comes from people who leave them in a cupboard for 12 months then go D'oh they don't hold a charge any more!!!!!

[Onyx]

Steve, thanks for posting Choice's results. I hope you have their permission to duplicate copyright material... Looking at the results of the difference between the primary cells: Duracell alkaline vs Energizer Titanium e2. The twice as expensive e2 with the fancy marketing of lower resistance alkaline cells and the Titanium brandname results in absolutely shit all difference to the standard alkalines! Why am I not surprised?!

Anyway, Antsl - if you care enough about buying right, check out Imaging Resources (beware pop-up). Comprehensive systematic testing of various brands of NiMH cells. They test for capacity on a fairly high current drain similar to use in a camera flash.

As always, your charger determines the longevity and capacity of your cells. Refer to this guide for optimal charging of NiMH on the bottom half of this page. As you noted, the Sony LCD has multiple methods of charge termination, which is good if for whatever reason it fails to detect end of charge by one method...

Most NiMH cells are not fully formed upon shipping, so no matter what charger or cell combo you buy, you should charge and fully deplete the batteries for the first 5 cycles. Then, you can use them normally, without resorting to full discharge everytime.

Also going from the Choice tests Steve reproduced above, it seems teh Energizers (Sanyo) don't rate high on consistency - ie. difference in capacity between first and 250th charge cycle, which suggests they may not last for more than this amount of cycles. Typically the higher in rated capacity you go, the less amount of cycles you can expect. In the 1600-1800mAh days you would expect 1000 cycles optimally charged, nowadays with 2500-2800mAh and up, most makers quote a maximum life of 500, which means 200-300 in real world use.

[Antsl]

Thanks for the info Steve Onyx and Dug ... I will put some more time into the study although in the short term I think it is a safe bet to buy the Sony Charger... it comes with four batteries anyway.

Even if I get 200 charges out of a set of batteries I think the cost saving is significant given that for the past 18 years I have been showing up at assignments with alkalines in the camera (needed 21 AAs to keep my camera bag working!). Thank God for Li-Ion batteries in the latest generation of D-SLRs.

[the foto fanatic]

Birdy was selling Sanyo NiMhs - see this thread http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=3550